Magic helped out Celtics on multiple fronts with road win over Pacers

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The Orlando Magic handed the Boston Celtics a pretty brutal loss a couple months ago. But we're guessing the C's can forgive them after Saturday night.

The sub-.500 Magic went into Indiana and beat the Pacers 121-115, ensuring Boston maintained hold on the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference despite losing to the Nets in Brooklyn.

The Celtics and Pacers now have identical 45-32 records, but Boston holds the tiebreaker -- and homecourt advantage in a first-round playoff series if the season ended today -- thanks to a 2-1 head-to-head record against Indiana.

Orlando's win benefited the Celtics in another way, though: The Magic also moved past the Kings in the overall NBA standings after Sacramento lost to the Houston Rockets.

The C's own the Kings' first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, which just bumped up from the No. 14 spot to the No. 13 spot in the lottery.

And guess what that means? Boston now has a 4.8 percent chance of landing a top-four pick in the draft if the season ended today, as opposed to a 2.4 percent chance if it was 14th.

The Celtics and Pacers still have five games to play, while the Kings still have six, so there's still a lot to be decided in the stretch run.

But Orlando definitely did Boston a favor by stealing a win in Indiana.

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